The present invention relates to an adjustable body sub-frame assembly and an adjustable body panel assembly for a truck chassis, such as a wrecker or the like.
Truck chassis with custom body assemblies are well known in certain industries (i.e. the wrecker and car carrier industries). A body assembly typically comprises a left body panel and a right body panel, and typically includes storage compartments for tools and supplies. The body assembly makes up the structural truck body that covers the chassis and drive train. An example of a truck chassis with an attached body assembly that is typical of the prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,773 to Kalis, Jr. et al. (Kalis). Kalis shows a body assembly that is formed from metal panels that are welded together and then bolted to the truck chassis.
Truck chassis are available in various different standard sizes (width and length) depending on the country of origin. For example, the United States truck manufacturers generally produce two standard truck chassis widths suitable for a wrecker, 34xe2x80x3 and 37.5xe2x80x3, and the Japanese and European manufacturers produce different standard chassis sizes. The body assembly width that a given chassis can accommodate is governed by the chassis width, in combination with the cab width and width between the outermost rear wheels (i.e. depending on the size of the rear wheels, and whether the chassis includes two or four rear wheels). Each different chassis width, therefore, accommodates a different range of body assembly widths. Further, to mount a desired body on a given chassis, the body must include a frame with a width that matches the width of the chassis. Chassis lengths also vary, which in turn governs the length of a body assembly that can be accommodated by a given chassis. Therefore, each body assembly must be produced with specific dimensions depending on the particular chassis for which the body assembly is designated.
Accordingly, manufacturers must produce different body assemblies for the various different chassis sizes. Factories must then either expand manufacturing capabilities to facilitate simultaneous production of the different body assemblies, or re-tool their manufacturing lines to switch between body assembly sizes. Factories must also increase their parts inventories to accommodate the different body assembly sizes, and distributors, to the extent that they stock body assemblies, must increase their inventories. The prior art, therefore, presents several drawbacks, including increased manufacturing tooling costs, increased factory and distributor inventory requirements, and increased manufacturing lead times.
The present invention overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art by providing an adjustable body sub-frame assembly for mounting on a truck chassis, and an adjustable body panel assembly for mounting on the body sub-frame assembly. One universal, adjustable body sub-frame assembly and one universal, adjustable body panel assembly of the present invention fit virtually any truck chassis. The present invention thereby reduces the manufacturing capability and inventory requirements associated with multiple body sub-frame and body panel assembly sizes.
The adjustable body sub-frame assembly of the present invention mounts on the chassis rails of a truck chassis. The body sub-frame assembly comprises left and right sub-frame rails that mount on left and right truck chassis rails, respectively. Each sub-frame rail includes a plurality of sub-frame brace tubes, and a plurality of body support brackets. Each sub-frame brace tube is fixed to a respective sub-frame rail in a lateral direction extending inward from the respective truck chassis rail, and each body support bracket is fixed to a respective sub-frame rail in a lateral direction extending outward from the respective truck chassis rail. Further, each body support bracket has a series of holes at a predetermined spacing along its length.
The body sub-frame assembly further comprises a plurality of sub-frame brace sleeves, each having two open ends. Each sub-frame brace sleeve receives a corresponding sub-frame brace tube of the left sub-frame rail in one open end, and receives a corresponding sub-frame brace tube of the right sub-frame rail in the other open end. The sub-frame brace tubes are inserted a predetermined distance into the respective sub-frame brace sleeves to a position such that each sub-frame rail aligns with the respective truck chassis rail. The sub-frame brace tubes are then welded in the sub-frame brace sleeves at that position. Accordingly, the body sub-frame assembly is thereby being adjustable to fit truck chassis of various widths.
The adjustable body panel assembly of the present invention comprises left and right body panels. Each body panel includes a plurality of mounting brackets fixed thereto in a direction extending laterally inward from the inner side of the body panel, and each mounting bracket has a series of holes at a predetermined spacing along its length. Each mounting bracket of each body panel aligns with a corresponding body support bracket of the corresponding sub-frame rail. Each body panel can be mounted on the support brackets of the corresponding sub-frame rail in a plurality of lateral positions. In each such lateral position, a subset of the series of holes in each mounting bracket aligns with a subset of the series of holes in the corresponding body support bracket. The body panel assembly is thereby also adjustable to fit truck chassis of various widths.
Additionally, the body panel assembly of the present invention includes length spacer panels that are cut to size in accordance with a length of the truck chassis. A length spacer panel is mounted in a space between the front end of each of the left and right body panels and the truck cab located at the front end of the truck chassis. The length spacer panels thereby provide for mounting the body panel assembly of the present invention on truck chassis of various lengths.
The present invention provides advantages over the prior art by providing an adjustable body sub-frame assembly for mounting on a truck chassis, and an adjustable body panel assembly for mounting on the body sub-frame assembly. The body sub-frame assembly is adjustable in the width dimension, and the body panel assembly is adjustable in both the width and length dimensions, to fit chassis of varying sizes. The width adjustment of the body sub-frame assembly accommodates the truck chassis width, and the width adjustment of the body panel assembly accommodates the body sub-frame width, cab width, and width between the outermost rear wheels of the truck chassis. The length spacer panel accommodates variations in chassis length. The present invention thereby provides for one universal body sub-frame assembly and one universal body panel assembly that are adjustable to fit virtually any truck chassis.